THE BEST ON CLINTON – AT 11:58 A.M. ET:  This is the very best piece on Hillary Clinton's legal problems that I've read.  I urge you to read it all.  From University of Chicago Professor Charles Lipson at RealClearPolitics: 

If FBI Director Comey does recommend criminal charges, he will put DOJ and the White House in a very tight box. First, as a seasoned prosecutor, he will present only strong, winnable cases. Second, he won’t present one or two charges. He will present evidence of dozens and dozens of felonies. AG Lynch and her career attorneys won’t be able to say, “On the whole, there’s just not enough here to convict.” They will have to say that over and over, on each charge. Indictment on even a few felonies is a torpedo beneath the waterline for Clinton. Third, it is clear that CIA and FBI investigators already fear an administration whitewash and have leaked damaging information to the press.

If insiders think the administration is engaged in a full-fledged cover-up, they will resign, led by Comey. They won’t go quietly. They will spill the beans. And two hours later, it won’t smell good.

Knowing that, Lynch and her political bosses, Barack Obama and his closest adviser, Valerie Jarrett, will have to decide which is worse, indicting their party’s presumptive nominee or risking their own Watergate?

Whichever they choose, the White House will not want its fingerprints on the decision. They will want White House spokesman Josh Ernest to say, with a straight face, “This decision was made entirely by respected, career professionals at the Department of Justice.”

If the FBI recommends felony charges, as is likely, the DOJ’s choices are damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t. For Loretta Lynch, it will make for a painful final year. For her party, the stakes are the presidency. For her country, they are the impartial rule of law.

COMMENT:  Comey has a superb reputation for competence and integrity.  He will not trash it.  And I doubt that Loretta Lynch wants to sacrifice herself for the good of the Clintons.  And Obama would probably be happier with Joe Biden as the candidate to succeed him. 

The FBI probe is expected to come to an end soon.  The results cannot be covered up in a town that leaks like a sponge. 

Of course, it's possible that the FBI will find no serious criminal activity, but I don't think they've assigned 150 agents to look into a technical violation.   This is not about parking tickets.

The best of this campaign is yet to come.  Read that whole piece.

February 29, 2016